On Tue, 11 Nov 2014 09:14:13 -0800 (PST), Jens Christensen
wrote:

Much deleted


Some time ago I watched the videos of a german girl that bought a project boat in Panama. A large steel hull boat that was in effect derelict and should have been trashed.
But she continues for 9 months and actually manages to get it at the least in a temporary semi-good condition. But it took 9 long months and I guess a huge amount of cash. Her videos can be seen on Youtube. They are all numbered, start with #1 and watch the projectboat horror begin:
https://www.youtube.com/user/WhiteSpotPirates/videos

She would have been much better of if she had bought a older,smaller boat in near perfect condition in Florida for 10.000USD or less.
She would have saved a lot of money and gotten 9 more months of sailing.

Also this couple of LeaLea is worth watching on Youtube. They sail in a old Albin Vega 27 feet. They have crossed from Hawaii to US several times and are now in Canada. They also keep the projects and the complexety down to a minimum:
https://www.youtube.com/user/vega1860/videos

It is my impression that they havent had many breakdowns in their many years of sailing full time. Only bad forecasts stop them.

The idea is(I think), get a brand new boat with all the bells and whistles AND a warranty that covers it all. Sell the boat after 5 years when the projects starts. Just my 2 cents.


One thing that most either don't realize or ignore is that most of the
earlier sailor authors actually sailed and wrote from some pretty
primitive (in today's terms) boats. Simple, small, and cheap.

The Pardey's first boat, Serafyn was 22'2" waterline in which they
sailed for 15 years, and their second (BIG) boat Taleisin was 27'6"
W/L in which they sailed from 1983. Neither boat had much in the way
of amenities.

The Hiscock's first boat was 18', Wanderer II was engineless and 22'2"
W/L and Wanderer III, that they sailed on for 17 years, had a 4 HP
auxiliary engine and was 27'6" W/L.

If you read or talk to people that have done extensive cruising it
seems like their problems have seldom involved the basic boat and rig
but have commonly been confined to, what one might call, the luxuries.

Which is not to say that one should squat, unclothed, in a bare boat
reading by a candle, but one should realize that the little additional
things may well break, while the "basic boat" probably won't.

--
Cheers,

Bruce in Bangkok